When It's Over

With an extremely large lump in my throat, I sit here and contemplate England’s defeat. This latest debacle has hit hard, even though we should be used to it. England have not qualified for Euro 2008. For the first time in my living memory, there will be no major tournament for us to fail heroically. No opportunites for a player to miss a crucial penalty. No emergance of one talent who gets all our hopes up for a few months. England have nothing to look forward to.

Croatia coach Slaven Bilic’s assertion that Croatia are ‘simply, a better team than England’ is an intruiging one. Croatia have beaten England twice over the last year. Therefore they must be better than us. English football has plumbed to the depths in which we are inferior to Croatia. The truth is, the potential is still there. Just like it was after Euro 2004. And the 2006 World Cup. Yet, England lack the tactics, the mentality and the coach to acheive the very best results. McClaren did so many things wrong during his reign, yet it was hard to not fell a touch of sympathy. The man has made some poor decisions but the players have let him donw in the extreme.

So, as I’m sure millions of people will be asking today, where did it go so dramatically wrong for England? Well, the 2-0 reverse in Croatia is most definately a turning point. McClaren got it worng there with his formation and tactics - it seemed as if he was being pressured into playing a ridiculous 3-5-2 formation with substandard players like Michael Carrick and Scott Parker in midfield. It was set up all wrong and you can blame Robinson all you want, but the truth is he was our best player in a game where we were outplayed, out-thought, and overrun in all departments. This was followed up by the dire 0-0 draw in Israel and the turgid 3-0 win in Andorra, a game in which the half time score was 0-0. McClaren had lost the fans and he hadn’t even reached double figures in terms of games.

Progress was made, slightly, with the return of Michael Owen, England’s only garantueed goal scorer. He scored in the wins over Estonia, Israel and Russia, a game in which he was electric. Suddenly, England had their hopes up. Gareth Barry brought a kind of balance in midfield, that was so lacking with Frank Lampard in the team. For a few games Emile Heskey provided Owen with the support he needed and was widely credited. Micah Richards finally brought some pace down the right even if he was playing in defence. Everything seemed right and a draw in Russia would practically secure qualification.

McClaren called it ‘4 minutes of madness’. England played well in Moscow on a pitch far more suited to the home team and led through Wayne Rooney’s excellant goal. By the end of the game, England’s hopes were in tatters as a dodgy penalty and a tame tap in gave Russia a fortunate win. England needed a miracle. Suddenly, McClaren was unpopular again. Being England manager, it seemed, was a slippery slope.

Israel pulled off a surprise by beating Russia and suddenly, the feelgood factor was back. England needed a regulation draw over Croatia at Wembley and all was secure. Then McClaren tinkered. He abandoned the 4-4-2 that had served England so well in recent games. He forgot the fact when Peter Crouch plays, England’s football becomes one dimensional and predictable. McClaren played a bold 4-5-1 formation with the inexperienced Scott Carson in goal, an extremely weak defence and Peter Crouch up front by himself. Hardly the bold formation needed to win a crucial game of football. England imploded on a wet and miserable night and although they fought back bravely to 2-2, there was a predictablility about Croatia’s winner. And, when it was over, England were out.

It is still hard to believe, a day later. McClaren has been sacked and rightfully so. English football lies in ruins, with no-one knowing what to expect next.

My own personal preferance would be anyone from Martin O’Neill, Jose Mourinho or Luis Felipe Scolari to take on the role next. I’d also like a complete reshuffle of how theings are run and organised. New regimes, new coachs, new players. Ashley Young, James Milner, David Bentley, these types of players. England have to build for 2010, they need to get the old guard out and get the new fresh players in. Lampard, Beckham, Campbell, Neville, these types of players shouldn’t really be persevered with.

Dark days are ahead, and there are few positives. It’s fairly safe to say that no-one really comes out of this sad, sad state of affairs with a positive reputation.